Its all about the head

Here comes that day, once every 35-40 days when I feel terribly uncomfortable, as uncomfortable as I can ever feel. Reason? Haircut. Yes, you read it right. Haircut it is. A good haircut is one thing that always eludes me. Right from the day I started to go alone to the Salon, I've always had bad to very bad haircuts only (come on, how long can my dad accompany me to the barber shop?).

And haircut day is always fun time for my mom who would give all possible comments about my head like "எலி பொந்துக்குள்ள தலைய விட்டா மாதிரி இருக்கு". And the trend became worser in October '95 during my Upanayanam when an act to uphold "Saasthram" screwed up whatever was in the top floor and I had to put up with that for many years until I received a peach of a haircut in June 2006. It was the first time I went to that shop near my home and I was so happy to leave with that to the United States.

I was told by my friend that it is mostly ladies who give haircuts in US and they are so professional etc., Overall, it was hyped up with all the necessary elements. The best haircut received in June 2006 was nulled by a factor -100 in Aug 2006. Bad (lady) luck with haircut continued in US and its been a different Salon every time here till today. I did get a good one from an old man near my home but his timings did not suit me :-(

The ladies always find different ways to screw with my hair and it takes a good 2-3 weeks to restore parity. The next haircut can be only after a good 2 months. Such is the impact :-(

I woke up with the same apprehension this morning courtesy an April 2k7 cut lined up right behind Aug 2006. It was yet another new shop this time and boy it was a guy atlast. End result - temporary relief for a few months... huh!

And I completed an year away from home today - one petty reason to feel happy :-)

Ring #4

11.50 PM Eastern : The San Antonio Spurs have done it yet again - they've just won their fourth NBA championship sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers 4 to zip.

Tony Parker for the MVP.

Go Spurs Go!

Indian Cricket...

is in shambles. Period.

Deja vu

I was on my way to office in the 8.30 bus and there was this guy in the bus in front of me who every now and then looked deeped down into a bag that he carried along. I was wondering if he had something prized inside and was afraid of being mugged. A little later, there was this weird smell that spread inside. பாத்தா அய்யா ஒரு quarter யேத்திட்ருக்காரு.

நம்ம ஊர் பஸ்-ல போரா மாதிரியே ஒரு பீலிங் :-)

MooLai... and the lack of it

The recent law enforced by the TN government to make it mandatory for two wheeler riders to wear helmets and the corollary to the law a couple of days later showcases two incredibly contradictory things

• A conscious effort on the part of the govt to enforce something that alleviates the lack of common sense on the part of the two wheeler riding public
• Lack of willingness to enforce the rule with whole heartedness. The second part exposes "government" mooLai or rather, the lack of it.

With the kind of people we have in our states, it is seemingly essential that there must be a rule to have common sense prevail. The govt. took a bold step in this direction with the intro of the helmet/seatbelt rule eff. June 1. The decision was conveyed in Feb and that gave sufficient time for everybody to get set and go ahead from June 1. Negligence led to last minute shopping and as a result many people ventured out w/o helmets at their own peril. The result - மாமாவுக்கு குடுமா குடுமா... field day for cops!

The rule is still not clear for several people especially in the suburbs who ask "Is this rule applicable in Tambaram?" That's a superb question because Tambaram is considered part of the city whenever the govt feels it has to be - CAS is one example.

Then comes the shocker of the decision to revoke the rule for lady and child pillion riders. Do any of those law enforcers have something called "Brain"? Its the pillion riders who get fatal injuries most of the time. And the obvious next qn is "What about men in the pillion"?

A step ahead... from the crooked thinker - "what about people getting a free ride on the way?" Are they expected to take and wear helmets? ;-)

A step further ahead, the whole exercise seems to be an effort to sell helmets and make commission eh?!? Another scam in the making?!?

Google again...

Got some good free time yesterday and so I ventured into organizing my google homepage a bit. There was a new "Themes" section that I found new even though it has been there for a month or more now :-)

Here comes the best part. I chose a theme and after clicking save, I was asked for my zipcode and boy, the theme would change itself according to the weather based on zipcodes!

Here is a sample... One late in the afternoon and one at night.

This is indeed holy crap!

Cry Babies

It's time cry babies Mike D'Antoni and his Phoenix Suns stop whining and start playing basketball. Whatever happened in Game 4 happens always come playoffs. And while what Horry did was bad, I thought Nash flopped in a bit too. And Amare and Diaw were supposed to be on the bench having known how stupid the league rules are. And D'Antoni said "we have the best cameras in Phoenix". The league used the very same cameras to review the play and suspend the players. What a shame!

And they say the Spurs are dirty. The spurs are the only team that play the game the way it should be played. Well, they play technically perfect, grind-out defense solid basketball. That's San Antonio basketball. And that's why they have 3 championship rings and are possibly on their way to a fourth.

And you call it boring? You call Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili playing as boring?!? Then you do not know baskeball. Period.

So Phoenix, stop whining. Its playoffs. Save yourself from elimination.

Go Spurs go!

Wild Wild West

1:15 AM EDT May 04, Oakland, CA : Confetti streaming their down way from the Rafters at the Oracle Arena. Golden State Warriors have just thrashed 2007's statistically best team in NBA - Dallas Mavericks by 25 points to storm into the Western Conference semi-finals.

But why the confetti? It was Golden State's first playoff appearance in 13 years and they became the first #8 seed to knock off the #1 seed in a 7 game series. They played tough basketball, very physical, tough 'D' and great offense. Dallas had 67 wins in the regular season while Golden State made it to the playoffs on the final night of the regular season. As expected everybody wrote the #8 off, but nobody seemed to remember that Golden State were the only team that swept the season series against Dallas 3-0. I have always hated Dallas and that scoreline was one reason for me to believe Golden State could pull off an upset and they did that!

It was one of the best ever play off series I've ever seen. Infact I will hold this a step above the SA-Dallas semis last year. The warriors played like real warriors. They came back everytime their back was against the wall and responded like warriors. Baron Davis played game six with practically one leg after pulling a hamstring and still managed a double-double. Such was the determination of the Warriors and Stephen Jackson led the team with Davis injured with 7 on 8 shooting from downtown. And above all, Nowitzki was held to 8 points for one of the worst games in his career.

The Warriors had nothing to lose. They played with passion, they played for the city of Oakland. And kudos to the city. Close to 90% of the people had turned up with the yellow "We believe" t-shirt in the stadium and they stood all thru the second half. Boy! thats a real crowd! Easily one of the best and biggest at about 20,700. They did really believe and so did the 15 warriors. They have pulled off the best and biggest upset in NBA history.

And finally, call this as attitude. Nowitzki in a pre-game before game 4 said, "If we lose this, its pretty much over". Steve Nash, with Phoenix trailing 1-2 said this before game 4 last year "If we could win this game, we can turn the series around". Now, Dallas lost game 4, somehow managed to win game 5 courtesy plenty of Golden State's errors and shades of Nowitzki's brilliance but lost the series 2-4. Phoenix also lost game 4 to trail 1-3, but came back to win the series 4-3.

As sick as it gets

One could not have asked for a more sick finale of a sports major

• Reducing the contest to 38 over a side. Come on, why do we have a reserve day?
• The dumbest of formulae - Duckworth-Lewis method deciding the outcome of the final
• Umpires offer light to the batsmen who accept it and the Aussies start celebrating only for the men in black to inform the Aussies that they can celebrate only when the three remaining overs are completed the next morning.
• Upon protest from both the captains, the three remaining overs are played in pitch darkness

End of a really boring, mis-managed cricket Worldcup. Period.

Uncle Sam

Its been just over 10 months since I have set foot in the States but till last weekend I really never got a feel that "I am in another country", leave alone the thought "I am in the States". The spectacular road network is an aberration of course. No one can beat these guys in that. Washington D.C gave me a slight feel of being in a foreign country with its royal splendour when I had been there early in March but again it was more like seeing Delhi. So I was still wondering as to when I would get the feel.

Luckily I did not have to wait any longer. The city of New York gave me an instant answer. Parking in NYC is a big headache and so we had our parking slot booked in 43rd street in Manhattan the previous day itself but my friend took the route for 43rd street in Brooklyn! yeah, a different island altogether. And we did not realize this till we called up the parking company after trying in vain to locate the space in Brooklyn. And just as we were roaming in Brooklyn looking for 43rd street, we saw this Ad,

"Divorce at $399"

Spouse's signature not required

Of course I am in the States. Who am I kidding?!?

Oh ho ho Joey...

Joey Crawford has been suspended indefinitely for the Duncan episode. A sports analyst has comeup with Duncan as his MVP pick ahead of Nowitzki and Nash for tossing Crawford out of the play-offs :-)

Hey... he he... he he... I am very happy... Start meesic!

What are you upto Mr. Joey?

Sunday April 15, 2007: The place, Dallas. An NBA game between I-35 rivals Dallas and San Antonio towards the fag end of the season.

1:16 left in the third quarter and there comes arguably the "worst" piece of refreeing ever, all sports put together. Tim Duncan tossed off from the game for "laughing". You read id right, "LAUGHING". Referee Joey Crawford was apparently provoked by Duncan - technically the most perfect player and amongst the nicest individuals ever to have played the game - that he gave him two 'T's while "sitting on the bench". Yes, when Duncan was on the bench!

It was just ridiculous.

Duncan never speaks a word unless its absolutely needed and he never said any on Sunday. Joey did what he did to the utter disbelief of players and fans in a nationally televised game. He has always had his temper taking control of situations in games in the past and one can always expect something to happen when he is around. But imagine what will happen if he does something similar in the playoffs or in the championship game - it will turnaround the contest!

Hey Joey, we don't watch games to see you flaunt your so called authority w/o thinking. David Stern can atleast do something for the players now.

மொழி

I chanced myself to watch மொழி and I have just one word to describe it - Refreshing. Certainly so, I've watched it three times within two days... :-)

System Abend 0C7

I know this was going to happen somewhere down the stretch when this happened, but certainly I did not expect it to happen the way it happened.

Oh my God!

Check this one out!

கோவம் வந்தா என்ன கத்தக்கூடாது சொல்லிட்டேன்!